Epilogue to a Christmas Murder - the eleventh (and final) Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery

It took a lot of strength for me to finally pick up this book and read it.  Ever since I picked up the first two books in this series and began reading about Addie Greybourne back in 2019 (just six years ago???), I have been absolutely hooked.  The characters are so real, the stories so engaging, and the crimes so well-plotted - I felt like this had become a real little world of which I had the privilege to peek in and watch from time to time.  Over the past six years, I have been fortunately enough to communicate with the author, Lauren Elliott (a/k/a Linda Maureen Fowler), on any number of occasions, and I found her to be personable, considerate, and simply wonderful to chat with.  So, it was with shock and profound sadness when, back in August, I and other fans of Elliott and her books learned that this amazing woman had passed away on August 11, 2025.  I was so stunned, and it was shortly after her passing that this next book in her Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery series was published - the last one she wrote before she died.  I bought the book and put off reading it, because I knew that once I did, there would be no more - that the adventures of Addie Greybourne and her ever-growing supporting cast would come to an end.  But my love of Elliott's writing and her story-telling skills got the better of me, so I picked it up, determined to take my time and relish every page for as long as I could.  Well, it only took me two days to read the book, I got so caught up in the story and just HAD to know who did it and why!

 

Epilogue to a Christmas Murder, while not intended to be the final book, is certainly the perfect book end for this series.  Over the past several books, Addie Greybourne's life has gone through a number of changes - her best friend, Serena, has gotten married and had children.  Her first love when moving to Greybourne Harbor, police chief Marc Chandler, found a new love and has settled into marital bliss.  Her bookstore and curio shop has grown so that she had two employees helping her out - Paige and Nikki.  Her most recent love and ex-fiance, Simon Emerson, has reunited with his wife and son, starting a new chapter in their life. Her mentor and mother-figure, Catherine Lewis, has married a globe-trotting man of mystery, and she is rarely in Greybourne Harbor any more.  As for Addie herself?  Well, she has returned after taking a year's sabbatical in England, where she not only solved a murder, but found her heart falling for a certain detective inspector (Noah Parker), only to leave England before it ever even had a chance.  Now, Addie is back in Greybourne Harbor, everything and everyone has changed, and Addie doesn't know where she fits in any more - but one thing's for sure, wherever Addie is, a murder is never far behind!

 

The town is gearing up not only for the Christmas gala at the museum, located just above the rocky cliffs of the harbor, but also for Paige's Christmas day wedding to her boyfriend, Logan.  But nothing is ever easy when Addie is around  first, Paige's wedding plans are disrupted when her wedding planner quits after Paige's mother (who happens to be Addie's business neighbor, Martha!) takes over planning the wedding - since she is paying for it, she will make all the decisions!  As Paige's maid of honor, it's up to Addie to try and smooth things over before Paige and Logan decide to elope!  Meanwhile, the "Twelve Days of Christmas" fundraiser and gala faces an uncertain future when all of the donations - including a first edition copy of O. Henry's The Four Million, which contains his famous short story, "The Gift of the Magi" and was delivered all the way from England - are stolen right out from under Addie's and the entire board's noses!  And when a body turns up at the bottom of the cliff, just below the museum from where the presents were stolen - well, let's just say it does not look like anyone is going to have a very merry Christmas.

 

Oh, did I mention that the book Addie was donating, which was worth quite a hefty sum, signed by O. Henry, and came all the way from England, was hand delivered personally by none other than Detective Inspector Noah Parker!  No one is more surprised than Addie, who thought she was never going to see him again. However, it's a good thing he's in town, because it turns out that the dead body is Nikki's ex-husband, Chad, who she divorced and ran away from because he was so abusive.  All evidence points to Nikki as the killer, and since she is Marc's cousin, he has to take a leave of absence while Noah is asked to step in and head up the investigation.  So, it ends up with Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys ... er, I mean, Addie alongside Marc and Noah ... working together to figure out who the real killer is so Nikki does not end up being railroaded by a politically-minded mayor who is running for re-election and wants this case wrapped up quickly.  As the evidence builds against Nikki, Addie is more convinced than ever that someone else is to blame, and she's determined to prove it, even if that means she has to do it on her own!

 

The book, which, I think, is probably the longest in the series, weighing in at 360 pages, splits its time between Addie trying to figure out who killed Nikki's ex-husband and Addie trying to figure out just who she is now and how she fits in with all of the changes in her friends' lives.  Anyone who has ever had some major upheavals in their life and had to make some major changes will appreciate the frustration, sadness, and constant questioning that Addie goes through over the course of the book.  And while, from the very beginning of this series, I have been a big supporter of Addie and Marc, I can admit that maybe, just maybe, our English inspector might actually be a better fit for Addie.  Thankfully, she figures this out by the end of the story, as well, after she manages to uncover the identity of the real killer, thereby proving Nikki's innocence (and proving, as she always does, that she was right all along!).

 

Elliott, who admits to being a fan of Nancy Drew, having read all her books growing up, manages to sneak a Nancy Drew reference into this book!  When Addie is at the police station, where a press conference is set up, she asks one of the reporters if she remembers her, and the reporter responds with, "My favorite bookseller and Greybourne Harbor's very own Nancy Drew" (p. 149).  Elliott also slips in a British female detective reference, when Noah refers to her as "Agatha Raisin" (p. 194), which is a British television series about an amateur female sleuth (and it happens to be based on a book series by M.C. Beaton).  I suppose Elliott wanted to give both American and British readers a bit of a nod with famous female detectives from both sides of the pond.

 

The only thing that left me a bit nonplussed with this mystery is the fact that we never find out who stole the presents (and Addie's valuable book) from the museum.  Addie kept wondering if the theft and the murder were connected, but after it turned out they were not, and the real murderer is revealed, the theft is pushed to the back burner.  There is an epilogue of sorts (perhaps where the title comes from?) where some of the stolen items show up on the doorsteps of various people in town, all wrapped up in shiny Christmas paper, with sleigh bells being heard by each person who finds the gift on their front porch.  It seems everything EXCEPT the O. Henry book is returned, and nothing further is said about it.  I realize with the Christmas theme of the book, the hint here is that perhaps "Santa" took the gifts and gave them out to those who they should go to (especially since the man who stole them was dressed up as an elf, and no one knew who he was);  however, I just feel like Addie would be more invested in finding that missing book and the thief who took it.  Maybe it was a plot thread that was going to come back in play in a future book, but now....oh, well, it's a mystery that shall forever remain unsolved.

 

And now it's over.  Addie's mystery-solving days in book form are over.  I would like to think that her sleuthing days continue, as she and Noah continue to work together to solve murders in Greybourne Harbor, as well as Pen Hollow, and maybe even Moorscrag, as well.  I have no doubt Elliott had many more ideas in mind for her book-minded sleuth, and I'll just have to imagine what they might have been (perhaps even one day solving the mystery of what book is the REAL first edition of Nancy Drew's Password to Larkspur Lane...).  Elliott will be greatly missed, as well Addie and all of her friends and family...until we meet again!

 

RATING:  10 pairs of red-and-white mittens out of 10 for providing Addie (and readers!) with one final mystery that gives us all a nice, well-wrapped conclusion to the tales of Addie Greybourne.

Extra Sensory Deception - the 4th (and Final) Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery

And so, with sadness in my heart, we come to the fourth, and final, Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery.  With this last book in the series, we get our last adventure with Clara Quinn, her cousin Stephanie, her dog Tatters, her mother Jessie, her boyfriend Rick, the town's sheriff Dan, the sheriff's deputy Tim, Clara and Stephanie's employee at the bookstore Molly, and Molly's new addition to the store, a small homeless cat named Edgar (after Poe, of course!).  Author Allison Kingsley has created a quickly little world in the small New England town of Finn's Harbor, Maine, with a diverse cast of characters that I've grown to really like and about whom I have enjoyed reading.  I will miss them all, and it's a shame Kingsley did not continue the series...

 

Extra Sensory Deception features a murder mystery that is set in the most unlikely of places, considering the location of Finn's Harbor.  A rodeo has come town!  Yes, you read that right.  A rodeo - in a small town on the coast of New England. Definitely not where I thought the author would take our intrepid psychic sleuth next, but it turned out to be quite the intriguing mystery.  A great improvement over the last book, whose murderer just sort of popped up out of nowhere.  This time around, Kingsley provides readers with some subtle clues along the way (if you are careful enough to catch them!), and the visions Clara has with her Quinn Sense are a lot trickier than they've ever been - but they all come true, just not how Clara (nor the reader) expects them to.  Plus, we get a lot more of Tatters in this book, one of the supporting cast finally learns about Clara's abilities, and Clara herself discovers that dogs are not the only animals whose minds she can read.  For a final book, this one pulls out all the stops!

 

The story centers around the rodeo and a murder that takes place on the opening night.  A woman is found dead, strangled behind the main stage.  The problem is, the piggin' string used to stranger the woman belongs to Wes Carlton, a good friend of Clara's boyfriend, Rick.  So, needless to say, Clara, with her cousin's help, begins asking questions, hoping to prove Wes' innocence (although everything she finds seems to point to Wes as the guilty party!).  The visions she has - a clown getting run down by a truck, a cowboy with a red shirt standing over the body, and a clown tumbling down the stands and being chased by an angry bull - make absolutely no sense, and her attempts to warn the one clown she meets are not taken seriously.  The digger she deeps, however, the more secrets she uncovers.  Like, how the dead woman was known for turning down suitors in a hateful manner, making herself any number of enemies. Like, how some of the other women in the rodeo hated the idea that the men they liked were in love with the victim.  Like, how the owner of the rodeo was possibly having an affair with the victim.  And like, how the wife of the owner had some very damaging evidence that she destroyed in order to protect one of the suspects!

 

It is funny how Clara and Stephanie are so careful to avoid doing anything to attract the attention of the Sheriff, since he has made it super clear in previous books that they are to stay out of it; the only problem is, when Clara has her final confrontation with the killer (someone she never even suspected, although some of the clues had been right in front of her the whole time!), it means the Sheriff has no way to show up in time to save her.  It is only through Stephanie's concern for her cousin and Rick's quick actions that Clara is saved from a charging bull and the killer is brought to justice!

 

I have to wonder if Kingsley had been to a rodeo recently, or knew someone who worked in the rodeo circuit, or perhaps even was a fan of rodeos; the story has some pretty good details about the inner workings of such an event, and it lends some reality to the story.  Also, I thoroughly enjoyed Clara's bantering with Tatters (even if no one else can hear the dog's thoughts), and was thrilled when Clara discovered she could also read the minds of cats when Molly happens to hide a stray cat in the bookstore storeroom.  I thought that opened up the doors for some interesting possibilities, had the series continued.  And speaking of which, it definitely felt like Kingsley was setting up the premise of the next book (or, at the very least, a near future mystery), because there were several references to the bookstore getting an author or two to come out and do a signing.  That definitely sounds like a great set-up for a new murder mystery.  But, alas, that was clearly not to be, and such a set-up leads me to believe that the termination of the series was not Kingsley's choice. 

 

It's a shame to see this series end, but if it had to come to a conclusion, this book was a fitting book to do so.  While there were a few plot lines that remain unresolved (does Clara ever tell Rick about her abilities?  does Clara ever move out of her mother's house? do Clara and Rick take their relationship to the next level?), the book ends with a relatively happy, satisfying conclusion that leaves the reader smiling.

 

RATING:  10 thick white pillars wound with English ivy out of 10 for a superbly plotted murder mystery, a fun story, and a sad, but satisfying, ending to the series. 

Trouble Vision - the 3rd Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery

What better way to start off the new year than reading a great murder mystery?  Well, to be honest, I read this book and am writing this blog post before the New Year - but since it's not going up before 2025 begins, I figured it would be a great way to ring in the new year!  And thus far, I've enjoyed the Raven's Nest Bookstore Mysteries by Allison Kingsley, the first two books in the series having some great mysteries to them - and the fact that one of the main characters has a psychic ability is just an added plus.  As the blurb on the back cover says, "Delightful ... [A] winning addition to the cozy paranormal mystery realm" (from bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn) - and I could not agree more.

Trouble Vision is the third book in this series about cousins, Clara and Stephanie Quinn.  After having solved two previous murders in their small coastal town of Finn's Harbor, the only excitement the new year has brought with it is a town uproar concerning the new resort being built along the coast.  The townspeople are fearful the resort will take away a lot of their summer tourist business, but the mayor believes it will only bring in more business for everyone.  The town meeting is heated, and a number of people are extremely irate - but the question is, was someone mad enough to kill the foreman in charge of the construction, Scott Delwyn?  Clara's "Quinn Sense" visions sure think so!

Kingsley provides a superb mystery here, as the foreman's fall from the scaffolding appears to be nothing more than an accident.  No one saw anything, there are no signs of a struggle, and the cause of death is attributed to the damage sustained from the fall.  There is absolutely nothing suspicious about the fall at all.  So, why, then, does the Quinn Sense keep nagging at Clara that there is a lot more to this death than it appears?  She can't go to the police with what she suspects, because who would believe her hunch is based upon a psychic impression, especially when Clara is determined to keep her abilities a secret from everyone except her cousin.  Thus, she and Stephanie, along with their assistant at the Raven's Nest bookstore, Molly, set out to uncover the truth of what happened that night.

The mystery is intriguing through pretty much the entire book.  Kingsley provides only the slightest of hints / clues as to the identity of the killer, and it becomes even more confusing with someone robs the local bank right in the middle of mid-day and gets away without anyone knowing who it was!  Clara's second sight suddenly changes, and she sees the ghost of Scott Delwyn outside the bank, convincing her that his death and the bank robbery are connected.  Clara also finds herself being pulled (psychically) into the past to witness his murder (but not the murderer) and the robbery (but not the identity of the thief).  She even tries to convince the chief of police the two incidents are connected, but he will not listen and warns Clara that she and her cousin better stay away from this or he will throw them both in jail!

And not only does the reader get treated to the evolving powers of Clara's psychic abilities, but we also get treated to Clara's evolving relationship with Rick Sanders, who owns the hardware store across the street from the Raven's Nest.  After what happened in New York, Clara has been ambivalent about whether she has been ready to enter into another relationship - but in this book, she finally takes a step in the right direction, and readers who have been enjoying this series will all breathe a sigh of relief - finally!

The only drawback to this book is the final revelation regarding the killer's identity.  There's no clue anywhere in the story as to the killer's motive, so when it is revealed, it almost feels the same as when Mrs. Voorhees is revealed as the killer in the first Friday the 13th film - absolutely no way the viewer (or in this case, the reader) could have known based upon everything that has been revealed up until that point.  I took a look back through the book, and although there are things that point to the identity of the killer, there is nothing that gives even the slightest hint as to the motive.  For me, that was a let-down, as I have been enjoying this series so much, and I felt Kingsley owed it to her readers to at least give us some tidbit of a clue prior to the final reveal.

Nevertheless, I'm still looking forward to reading the fourth (and sadly, final) book in the series, and hopefully it goes out on a high note!

RATING:  7 gift certificates for a day at the spa out of 10 for a great combination of psychic abilities and mystery crafted into a nice tale of murder!

A Limited Edition Murder - the tenth Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery

It's been well over a year since I read the last book in the Beyond the Page Bookstore mystery series by Lauren Elliott.  So, it's been over a year since poor Addie Greyborne's life was quite literally turned upside down by revelations regarding her parentage and regarding her fiance's previous marriage.  Thus, I suppose it was apropos that I waited to read this book, since I discovered upon reading the first few pages that there is quite the time jump from Dedication to Murder to this book - a year, in fact!  Thus, my timing was actually quite impeccable, since I have now spent the same time away from Greyborne Harbor that Addie did.  Of course, just because she's spent a year in England does not mean that poor Addie can get away from finding a dead body...

A Limited Edition Murder finds our intrepid sleuth trying to come to terms with everything that happened in that last book.  Not only did she find out she was not who she always thought she was for her entire life, but she also discovered that her fiance was still married to his first wife - and has a son by her!  So, Addie escapes to England, where she takes up residence in a cottage owned by her friend and best-selling author, Anthony Radcliffe, who is more than happy to have her visiting, since he is about to formally announce his engagement to Hailey Granger, and Lord Bentley and his new wife will be coming for the engagement party!  It's set to be the biggest event that the small village in West Yorkshire has seen in some time, and while Addie is not overly thrilled at the idea of hobnobbing with near royalty, she is happy for her good friend, and so she wants to support him. Besides, it has been a year, and she will be returning to the States the next weekend after the party.  She has delayed returning home long enough.  Of course, that is when fate intervenes, and Addie stumbles upon a dead body in the moors on the morning after!

I will admit, the opening chapters for this book had me a bit concerned.  Honestly, the writing felt a bit different than Elliott's previous books, and it left me a bit off-kilter.  I can't quite put my finger on what it was while I was reading that felt "off," but I do know one thing that definitely struck me as odd in the writing.  On page 39, when Addie accidentally spills champagne on a mysterious woman in a red and white floral dress and says, as she's trying to wipe up the liquid, "I hope the champagne doesn't settle in the intricate gold filigree setting of that exquisite sapphire."  I found that to be a very unusual wording for someone to actually speak - it reads more like a description an author would use when describing the necklace to the reader.  I tried saying the line out loud, just to hear how it sounds, and it came out very awkward.  And if it were just this one instance, I might have written it off (no pun intended!) as merely a poor choice of wording.  But it happens again just 9 pages later, when Addie is trying to calm an argument between Tony and Lord Bentley, and on page 48, she suggests to Lord Bentley, "why don't you take a seat behind that beautiful carved walnut desk?"  Again, that sounds like an author's description and not dialogue.  People don't naturally go around describing things in that kind of way when they are talking to each other, unless the topic of the discussion is that particular item.  But, honestly, there was more to the odd feeling as I was reading it than these lines of dialogue.

However, I can say that once Addie takes Pippi for her morning walk and comes across the body in the foggy moor, the typical Elliott writing I'm used to reading returns, and boy does it return in full force!  From that moment on, even without Serena or Paige or Marc or any of the other regular supporting cast members I've grown to love in the past nine books, the mystery became so engrossing I could not put it down.  It's not often I finish a 300+ page book in less than 24 hours, but this one is one of them.  While there was one minor clue early on that gave away the identity of the culprit a little too soon, there was still plenty of mystery to solve - such as who killed the step-daughter of Addie's boss at the Second Chance Books and Bindery some twenty years earlier, and how does that connect to this murder?  Is it because both murder victims were wearing the very same necklace before they were killed, yet the necklace was not found on their body after?  Or does it have something to do with that first edition Wuthering Heights that Tony gave to his fiance at the engagement party, only to discover the book actually belonged to Lord Bentley, from whom it had been stolen years ago?  Elliott makes great use of this temporary supporting cast, with some of the characters definitely growing on you (I would love to see Jasper Henderson show up again!  and that DI Parker certainly gives Addie a run for her money!), and she does manage to bring in Serena and Paige, albeit briefly.  Of course, there is one bit of news from the States that Addie learns that did not make me happy at all (and I am hoping that in the next book, that will change, because I've still got my hopes on Addie and Marc getting together in the end!).

The final chapters in the book are somewhat bittersweet, as Addie prepares to return home, having to leave her new friends behind (with some tearful farewells), as well as an unexpected revelation regarding one of the new characters.  Whether this will impact Addie's life going forward, we shall have to wait and see.

Elliott throws in a couple of things in the story that brought a smile to my face.  First is the name of the road that leads to the main shopping district of West Yorkshire, which is aptly named "Crooked Lane" (p. 2).  I realize it is nothing more than a coincidence, but way back in the day - back in 1936 to be exact! - Mildred Wirt, the original ghostwriter of the Nancy Drew books, had a mystery published that was called The Clue at Crooked Lane (The Clue at Crooked Lane).  Which, of course, makes the Nancy Drew reference on page 215 even more ironic!  I'm still holding out hope that since this series is premised on first editions of various famous books, one of these days, Elliott is going to have a mystery that centers around a Nancy Drew book (and if she were to ever do so, I know exactly which Nancy Drew book would make the perfect plot point that someone would kill for!).  Ah, well, one can always dream...

Thus, even though the book got off a rocky start, the murder got everything back on track and left me enjoying the book immensely by the time I finished it!  Now to sit back and wait to see what Elliott has in store for book eleven!

RATING:  9 buckets of composting food out of 10 for another well-plotted murder mystery that once again shows just how well Addie Greyborne can hold herself, even against arrogant, self-absorbed detectives from the English countryside!

A Sinister Sense - the 2nd Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery

It was definitely time to return to Raven's Nest bookstore to see what trouble Clara Quinn and her cousin, Stephanie Quin, will find themselves in this time.  Surprisingly, the author, Allison Kingsley, moved away from telling the story from both cousins' points-of-view and instead focuses more on Clara in this book.  We only get one brief chapter from Stephanie's point-of-view, and it is merely her trying to get ready as she and Clara prepare to confront the person they believe to be the killer.  Personally, I prefer the story being told from one character's point-of-view, as the alternative POVs can become a bit much at times.  So, I'm happy Kingsley settled on just one character to take us through this second mystery in the Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery series.

A Sinister Sense does not give us a time frame for how long it has been since the cousins managed to unmask the killer in the previous book.  There are a couple of mentions in passing of the women having involved themselves in the last murder mystery, but it comes across as if that happened months ago, if not longer.  Clara and Stephanie have settled into their routine at Raven's Nest, with the help of their young assistant, Molly, and Clara continues to fight her obvious attraction to that hunk of a man who works at the hardware store across the street, Rick Sanders.  And, of course, that ever-bothersome Roberta Prince still runs her stationary store next door, and she still has her eyes set on Rick, even though he has absolutely no interest in her whatsoever.  Life has settled back to normal in Finn's Harbor, and we all know what that means - time for another murder!

Kingsley starts the story innocently enough - Rick's ex-wife has dropped off their humongous shaggy dog for him to take in; and the first thing it does is chase after poor Roberta, who made the mistake of offering it a few dog biscuits, in the hopes of getting in good with its owner.  The next thing you know, the dog chases Roberta into Raven's Nest, and Clara has to prevent the dog from damaging the store!  Rick shows up, bandaged finger and all, to reclaim the dog and explain the situation to Clara (who, by the way, was not even aware Rick had an ex-wife!).  Rick explains how he hurt his finger, giving details about the man who came in asking directions to city hall, the other customer browsing through the garden tools, and him trying to keep control of an uncontrollable dog.  Little do any of them realize that all of these daily things are about to lead to a murder...

The next day, Clara learns that a body was discovered in the back of Rick's truck, apparently placed there last night while Rick was at the bowling alley.  He is only a person of interest at first, since the body was found in his truck and the police have no clue as to the identity of the victim.  Soon enough, however, the evidence against Rick starts piling up.  The victim was in Rick's store the day before the murder.  The hammer used to kill the victim was from Rick's store.  And the clenching piece of evidence is Rick's DNA discovered from the blood on the sleeve of the victim's shirt!  The mayor is clamoring for Rick to be arrested, charged, and convicted so that the tourist town can once again be safe.  But Clara is confident Rick is innocent, and that little voice inside her head (otherwise know as the "Quinn Sense") is telling her the same thing.  The question is, though - who did kill the man and why?

Kingsley crafts a wonderful tale filled with plenty of suspects, and she keeps the clues given by the Quinn Sense vague enough to keep the reader guessing.  But every whispered word Clara hears, and every vision she sees, they all connect and point to a very specific person as the murderer.  For seasoned mystery readers, the killer will likely comes as no surprise (as with the first book, the identity of the killer is not hard to spot - it's the motive that takes some time to figure out); but it's getting there that is all the fun!  The "Quinn Sense" is not overused, nor is it a crutch that Clara is able to rely on to give her clues at exactly the right moment; rather, it is an unreliable tool that requires Clara to research and dig more into things to figure out what the clues mean.  Kingsley also manages to sneak in a bit more about Clara's past in New York and what happened between her and her fiance, which gives the reader a stronger sense of sympathy for the main character, making you root even more for her and Rick to get together!

 

One other thing I enjoyed about this book is seeing (reading?) more about Clara's relationship with her mother.  There is some strain, some love, some contrast, some battles, and ultimately some family bond that shines through, and it comes across very natural and real.  

 

Definitely a must-read for mystery fans and especially those who love these type of cozy mysteries.  It's truly a shame the series didn't make it past four books, but I guess those four are better than none at all!

 

RATING:  9  Northern Italian dinners out of 10 for another fantastic mystery with just a touch of psychic thrown in to make it all the more interesting!

Mind Over Murder - the 1st Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery

This is probably not a series I would have ever picked up on my own.  A friend of mine gave me this book a few years back, and I set it up on my shelf and promptly forgot about it.  Once in a while, when going through my stack of books to be read, trying to decide which one to read next, I would see it and say, "I need to read that someday."  Well, that someday finally arrived, and I made the decision to pull it down and read it.  I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I figured since my friend put enough thought into it to give it to me, I should at least give it the benefit of the doubt.  And I was surprised how much I enjoyed it!

Mind Over Murder is the first book in the "Raven's Next Bookstore Mystery" series by Allison Kinglsey. It is different from other mystery series that I read, in that there is more than one main character in the story.  The protagonists are Clara and Stephanie Quinn, sisters who reside in the small town of Finn's Harbor, Maine.  Stephanie, who is married with children, has recently opened a bookstore (Raven's Nest - hence, the title to the series), and Clara just recently returned to town after living for years in New York.  To complicate matters, something happened to Clara while she was in New York that is keeping secret from her family, and it is one of the reasons she came home.  She agrees to help out at Stephanie's store until she can get herself established and find a job of her own.

Oh, and Clara also happens to have inherited the Quinn's family gift - a psychic sense of the future and other's thoughts.  But Clara does not like, nor does she want this "Quinn Sense," and she has spent years pushing it down.  Only, when a body is found in the back room of her sister's store, Clara finds herself in a position of having to turn to that "sense" in order to help figure out who the murderer is!

 

Kingsley does a great job of balancing the story between the two sisters.  I think writing the story in third-person rather than first-person helps.  I've noticed that with both The Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers and The Hardy Boys Adventures series, which are written in first person with alternating chapters changing character points-of-view, the biggest complaint is trying to keep up with which character is now the focus.  But with this book, there is no confusion, and the transitions between Clara and Stephanie are smooth and easy to follow.  Plus, the characters are written sufficiently different, so that even without being named, the reader knows which one it is.  Now, the book does focus more heavily on Clara, which I think has to do with the fact that she is the one who just returned to town, she is the one carrying a secret regarding her past in New York City, and she is the one with psychic powers.  I'll be curious to see if that holds true in the other books of this series.

With regard to murder mystery, I have to admit the killer was fairly easy to spot.  Kingsley did try to throw in a number of possible suspects - the new owner of the business next door who turns out to have basically forced the victim to sell her the business before she died; the man whose life was basically ruined by the victim years before; the bookstore assistant whose last run in with the victim resulted in her threatening the woman; and even the good-looking guy who owns the hardware store across the street, who had his own ax to grind with the victim.  It seems the victim made an enemy of pretty much every person she met!  And even though Clara and Stephanie don't see it until the end, I think any astute reader who has been reading mysteries as long as I have will spot the killer early on - the signs are there, and while the means may not be clear, the motive and opportunity definitely are!

Overall, it was a really great read, and I will definitely be purchasing the next three books in the series (sadly, it appears there are only four books in this series - not sure if sales just didn't warrant any more, or if the author moved on to other things).  

RATING:  8 tiny whale charms out of 10 for a new mystery-solving duo with a twist!

Dedication to Murder - the ninth Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery

I have been super fortunate to have made (online) friends with author Lauren Elliott, specifically in reference to her "Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery" series.  I follow her Facebook page and have shared all of my blog reviews with her as I have read through her series.  While not necessarily a fan of "cozy" mystery series, I have thoroughly fallen in love with Elliott's Beyond the Page series, as well as Lena Gregory's Bay Island Psychic series.  Both series have strong female sleuths, well-plotted and engaging mysteries, and characters that you can't help but be drawn into their lives.  Recently, I had the good fortune of winning a Facebook page contest, for which I received an ARC (Advance Reader Copy) of Elliott's ninth book, which is not set to hit bookshelves until later this month (April 25th, if I recall correctly).  Elliott not only personalized my ARC, but she also sent along an autographed bookmark for her series, which I treasure now (and will use every time I read one of her books!).  So, since I had this treasure in my hands before the release date, I felt it only right that I open the pages and find out what kind of trouble Addie Greybourne gets herself into this time!

Dedication to Murder is definitely a game-changing book.  And when I say everything changes, I mean it!  Elliott definitely shocked the heck out of me with some of the revelations in this story, and after this one, there is definitely no going back.  Obviously, I'm not going to spoil those big shocks for you, but all I can say is that you better prepare yourselves.  If you have been a fan of this series from the beginning, like me, or even if you are a new reader who is just starting to get into the series, this one will rock you.

Elliott lulls you into a sense of security with the opening chapter, as Addie prepares to walk down the aisle and marry the man she has fallen in love with, Simon.  It's all sunshine and rainbows, and Addie is all aglow as she makes the last minutes plans for Pippi to be cared for while she and Simon are on their honeymoon.  The church is perfect.  The flowers are perfect.  The gown is perfect.  The day is perfect.  Addie's biggest worry is whether she left the price tag on the bottom of her shoes and did anyone see it.  Nothing could possibly go wrong!  Yeah, okay, right - this is a murder mystery series, after all, so what did you expect?  Did you really think the wedding would go off without a hitch?  In pure soap opera fashion, the minute the minister asks if anyone has any objections or knows of any reason why these two should not be married....

Well, from that moment forward, everything you ever thought you knew about some of these characters changes!  BIG TIME!

I so want to talk about those changes, but it would be unfair to those who have not read the book yet to spoil it.  But let's just say that the changes that occur have a major effect on two of the main players in this series, and both changes happen to center around the murders in this book.  Yes, murders, as in two - one in the present and one that is decades old.  And while Addie tries her best to keep her nose out of one of them, she has no choice but to focus her attention on the other - because it happens to be connected with a first printing copy of The Velveteen Rabbit that she finds in her attic.  A first printing that is inscribed to her great-aunt's granddaughter - which makes no sense, because as far as Addie was aware, her great-aunt had no children, which is why she left the house in Greybourne Harbor to her.  This leads Addie on a quest to solve a murder that happened over fifty years ago.

But don't think Elliott leaves her alone with that one mystery to solve.  Oh, no.  Soon enough, Marc comes calling on Addie to help him with the present day mystery - one that actually had its set up in the previous book when Addie was in Pen Hollow - and kudos to Elliott for setting that up (although, in all honesty, I knew some of the things mentioned in the previous book would come back into play, I just didn't realize it would be so soon!).  Just like in this book, it's obvious that there is a set up for a murder in the next book when Addie takes off for .... well, let's just say she's headed out for another great adventure!

I do love the idea of Addie's search for a killer from over half a century ago, and the solution did come as a surprise.  And the fact that the solution to that mystery also leads to the revelation of the killer's identity in the present - well, that was just icing on the cake!  Elliott did a magnificent job of tying the two murders together, all the while dealing with the fallout and drama of what is happening in the personal lives of these characters.  And if you thought this series had more than enough supporting cast, guess again!  Elliot introduces her readers to two new characters who are likely going to be around for a while - a young sixteen year old boy named Mason and Marc and Serena's young cousin, Nikki, who takes on a part-time position at Beyond the Page Books (and just in time, too!).  I look forward to seeing how these character mix things up (and how you know they will eventually be involved one way or another in some future murder mystery!).

This book literally has everything!  Two murders! A wedding!  Two long-hidden paternity revelations! A cover-up! A betrayal!  A rekindled romance! Lies! Secrets!  Basically everything a great soap opera has to attract viewers, this book has in spades!  There's so much I want to say about this story and some the things that take place (like the fact that with one event, it opens the door for something I've been wanting for a while to happen - whether it will or not, I guess we'll have to wait and see - the last book gave a very small hint that there was a possibility, and this book makes that possibility a reality, but we'll see what Elliott has in store).

If there's ever a book in this series to read, this is the one!

RATING:  10 first edition sets of Winnie-the-Pooh books out of 10 for rocking the reader's world with some of the most unexpected events all wrapped around a superbly-plotted murder mystery!

A Margin for Murder - the eighth Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery

Are we really up to eight books in this series already?  Geesh, it seems like just yesterday I came across the first couple of books in this series at Barnes & Noble and picked them up, being introduced to Addie Greybourne, her best friend Serena, her then love interest Marc, and the growing cast of characters that support this new bookstore owner.  Now, here we are several years later (both in reality and in the series) and up to book eight (with the ninth book coming out very soon!), and I am still enjoying each book as much, if not more, than the first.  I have been very fortunate with the few "cozy" series that I have picked up, in that the writing has been exceptional, the mysteries very engaging, and the characters lovable (or not-so-lovable, depending on the intent of the author).  The Beyond the Page Mystery series is definitely one of those.

A Margin for Murder finds Addie getting ready to celebrate her birthday in some of the most wonderful ways - heading off for a weekend of book-buying at a "going out of business" sale for a library in the neighboring town of Pen Hollow, as well as a very special birthday dinner with Simon, the man Addie is hoping will finally pop the question.  The weekend becomes even more perfect when Addie and Paige (her sidekick of sorts) are offered the chance to buy the library's bookmobile and all the contents therein!  Addie discovers four very valuable first editions in the bus, and that discovery is only the first domino that starts them all tumbling down, ending with the murder of one Luella Higgins - the town's mayor, president of the town council, and the current head of the library committee!  With so many people at the library sale, Addie and Paige are left wondering who would want her dead?  Well, the small town sheriff has no doubts at all about who did it - and sets about proving that Addie and Paige (the "outsiders") are guilty!

This book definitely has it ALL!  There's a murder where not only do we not know who the killer is, but we don't know how the victim was murdered or what the motive was (there were certainly plenty of different possible motives, that's for sure!).  There's a myriad of suspects - from the town pharmacist, to the disgruntled library employees, to the wife of the man the victim slept with, to just about pretty much anyone in Pen Hollow - Luella Higgins definitely ruffled a lot of feathers, and not in a good way.  There's also the four first edition books that disappeared months ago, turn up in the book mobile Addie is buying, then disappear again.  Then there's the surprise appearance by an old boyfriend from Addie's high school days who happens to be in Pen Hollow - who also happens to be the grandson of the library's biggest donor and who put a stop to that funding the minute he arrived in town!  And that brings up the huge, Gothic mansion where he is staying, the one that belonged to his grandmother and comes complete with a Mrs. Danvers-like housekeeper (you know the one - from Rebecca?).  And there are all of the secrets that are being kept by so many of the townsfolk, and the more secrets that come to light, the more Addie and Paige wonder if they will ever make sense of it all.  Oh, and let's not forget to mention that both Simon and Marc show up in town - but between Simon being so distant and Marc being so suddenly protective of Addie, our poor sleuth is left wondering just where any of her relationships currently stand.  And then there's poor Serena - pregnant with her first child, coming closer and closer to that due date, when Simon discovers there is something important going on with that pregnancy (and that little mystery is probably the ONLY thing I actually figured out right away in this book!).

Yes, Elliott (as in Lauren Elliott, the author) really kept me guessing on this one.  I have to give her the highest kudos, because every time I even got an inkling of who I thought might be the killer, she pulled the rug out from underneath me and gave the story a completely off-beat twist - again ... and again ... and again.  I'll be honest, the ending to this books is one I never saw coming, and I doubt very seriously you will either!  It was truly inspired and, quite honestly, a solution that I don't think I've ever read in a murder mystery before.  But once revealed, it all made sense and actually fit quite well with everything that was going on in this story.  So, way to go, Elliott - way to go!

A few things I did want to make mention of that stood out for me in this mystery (aside from the superb mystery itself!).  First, Elliott gives readers a nice Nancy Drew reference.  When discussing their situation, Paige tells Addie:

Besides ruining your birthday, my sister lives in this town, my brother-in-law is a state trooper stationed here, and me and one of my best friends are murder suspects in the death of a woman we just met.  Now we have to get all Nancy Drew about it and start looking for skeletons in closets in a murder investigation that should have nothing to do with us.  (p. 103)

It's always fun to see a reference to everyone's favorite teen detective - just another reminder of just how much of an American pop icon Nancy Drew has become since her first appearance wayyyyyy back in 1930!  Although, I'm still patiently waiting for Addie to solve a crime centered around a rare edition of a Nancy Drew book (like, say, that super-elusive, never-before-seen alleged first printing/edition of The Password to Larkspur Lane?).

Another incident that  not only had me laughing out loud, but also had me cheering Addie on, saying, "Attta girl,Addie!" was when the Sheriff's wife, who is intent on taking over as the new chairperson of the local garden club now that Luella Higgins, the former chairperson, is dead, humiliates Addie in front of a room filled with women from the community by flat out accusing her of killing Luella.  Addie, never one to back down, happens to recall where she first saw the Sheriff's wife and decides to let the whole community in on that first meeting:

"I know you ... Aren't you the woman I saw on the stairs just prior to the potluck dinner starting?  Yes, I'm certain it was you.  Paige and I were heading down to the book sale for one final look before the dinner commenced, and you were on your way up to the meeting room.  You stopped and asked us if we'd seen Luella upstairs.  I remember clearly now.  I told you she was in her office, and you said, and I quote, 'The poor dear must be starved.  I bet she hasn't eaten a thing all day.  I hope Gretchen has started to put the food out so I can make up a plate for her ... As you are obviously aware, it was something she ate that night that killed her, right?" (pp. 169-70)

It is moments - and lines! - like this that truly make this series so enjoyable to read.  Addie knows how to throw out a zinger when needed, and boy, was this one a doozy!  Of course, it has its consequences, because let's face it - accusing the wife of a small town Sheriff of being a killer is not going to sit too well with the Sheriff!

And finally, there are some moments in this particular book that I believe are foreshadowing of future stories to come.  Addie's old boyfriend invites her to come visit him in England some time (I can picture it now - Addie solving a crime in an old English manor!).  Addie volunteers to put in a good word for the niece of one of the townspeople with the vet in Greyborne Harbor who is looking for help (and this niece happens to have once known a guy named Simon ... which happens to be the name of Addie's current man - yeah, like we don't see the trouble that's going to cause!).  These kind of hints at things to come is another thing I love about this series, as it creates a sense of continuity and provides a bit of real-world feel to the characters.

If no other book in this series can get you interested, this one DEFINITELY will.  You are missing out on a wonderful world of characters, settings, and mysteries if you aren't reading this series!

RATING:  10 chocolate covered cherries out of 10 for keeping the identity of this killer a well-guarded secret up until the very end - a truly surprising reveal that I never expected in the least!

To the Tome of Murder - the seventh Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery

Seven books in, and this series is still as exciting and as fresh as the first book!  Author Lauren Elliott has a way with words and characters that truly draws the reader in, makes the reader care about each and every person in the story, and ultimately has the reader rooting for the villain to be caught and locked away.  Addie Greyborne and her small little world of Greyborne Harbor is like a soap opera in book form, with each book furthering the tale of the lives of Addie, Paige, Serena, Kalea, Simon, Martha, Marc, and the rest of the cast.  With each book I pick up, I can hear in my head, "Previously, at Beyond the Page Bookstore..." and I settle right in to finding out what is going to happen next!  And it certainly doesn't hurt that each book, and each murder, somehow connects to a rare and/or collectible book.

To The Tome of Murder is set in the autumn, with Thanksgiving just around the corner.  This would mean that it's been approximately three years since Addie moved to Greyborne Harbor and opened her bookstore, since Murder by the Book (book one) was set in the autumn, Prologue to Murder (book two) was set in the Spring, Murder in the First Edition (book three) was set at Christmas, Proof of Murder (book four) was set in the summer, A Page Marked for Murder (book five) was set at New Year's time, and Under the Cover of Murder (book six) was set in late Spring.  And I guess this is a good thing, because seven murders over the course of three years is probably not that horrible of a statistic for a small town, all depending on the actual size of the town.  (Am I the only one who actually keeps track of these things?  Does that make me weird?)

Anyway, this time around, the murder mystery hits very close to home for Addie, because it is her cousin's boyfriend who is murdered!   The town is all abuzz about the Civil War-era themed baking competition, and Addie can't seem to keep any books from that era in stock.  In particular, author Sarah Josepha Hale's books seem to be the hot commodity.  The woman in charge of the competition is even on the hunt, looking for a first printing of Hale's famous nursery rhyme, "Mary Had a Little Lamb."  So what in the world does any of that have to do with Kalea's boyfriend?  You know, the one she is living with - the one she had a big fight with and was planning to break up with?  The one who left everything to Kalea upon his death?  Yeah, okay, that definitely sounds like motive for murder, right?  Well, let's add in the fact that he was killed in Kalea's dress shop, located just beneath their apartment, and there are no signs of any break-in and nothing was stolen ... nothing except an old briefcase that he had just gotten from a pawn shop.

In true Elliott style, Addie sticks her nose into the middle of everything, determined to prove her cousin's innocence.  But what happens when even she begins to question Kalea's guilt?  Well, that's when Martha steps up to help ensure her FRIEND doesn't get railroaded into a prison sentence.  Yes, you heard that right.  Martha and Kalea are now friends!  And how does Martha help?  Well, her bakery being gossip central for Greyborne Harbor, she makes it known that anyone who had dealings with Kalea's boyfriend is a suspect, and the next thing you know, half the town is pointing fingers at one another, making it next to impossible for Marc to get any actual investigating done.  This, of course, leaves Addie with plenty of opportunity to do her own investigating.  And, as with all of her mysteries, a rare book is at the dead center of it all!

Now, I'm not going to spoil it, but I will say that the matter of the briefcase was pretty easy to figure out early on, as was a certain case of mistaken identity.  I debated back and forth for a while about the identity of the killer, or even who was the force behind the murder, and I give Elliott credit for keeping me guessing until pretty near the end.  The ultimate revelation actually left me feeling a bit sorry for the killer (not enough to wish them unpunished, but enough to say I can see why they did what they did - or at least, what they thought they had to do).

And as if all of this weren't enough to keep a reader's interest, Elliott gives readers some life-changing surprises for Serena, for Catherine, and for Kalea (aside from the obvious) and reminds everyone that family is more than just blood relation - family is made up of those you love and who are in your life, for better or for worse.  A definite Happy Thanksgiving for Addie and her "family."

RATING:  10 Sweet Treats Ice Cream truck locations out of 10 for showing that not only can words be deadly, but they can be enjoyable to read as well!

Phantoms & Felonies - a Haunted Mansion Mystery (#2)

It absolutely sucks when you find a new series that you enjoy, with a writer that you find has created some engaging characters and a world full of great mysteries, and then have that rug pulled right out from under you after only two or three books when you discover that - oh, guess what?!  The series is over, the publisher and/or the writer has decided not to do any more books in the series.  It has happened to me more time than I care to admit.  The Change of Fortune series by Jesica Estevao ended after only two books.  The Lilly Long series by Penny Richards ended after only three books.  The Devlin Quick series by LInda Fairstein ended after only three books.  And the list goes on and on.... And now, here I have yet another wonderful series to add to this list - the Haunted Mansion Mystery series by Lucy Ness.  I came into the game a little late, picking up both the first and second book in this series after the second book was published.  I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, and so as time came around and I picked up the second one to read, I did a search to see when the next one was coming out.  Only ... there is no "next" book for this series.  (sigh)

But that did not dampen my enjoyment of this second trip into the world of Avery Morgan and the Portage Path Women's Club.  Phantoms & Felonies finds Avery getting ready for the murder mystery party that the women's club is hosting, and resident ghost Clementine Bow (or "Clemmie" as she likes to be called) is eager to help Avery get the former speakeasy in the basement ready for the event.  A local theater troupe is going to be staging the interactive play, in which the guests at the club will have the opportunity to solve the murder that is going to take place.  But, as fate would have it, a real murder is on the menu for the evening as the local banker, Bob Hanover, who is playing the lead role in the play, turns up dead in the speakeasy - and Avery's aunt, Rosemary Walsh, is found standing over the body, a bloody knife in her hand!  Boy, does Avery have her work cut out for her!

Ness cooks up quite the little murder mystery with this one.  It turns out there were any number of people who were actually out of the dining room when the murder took place and could very well have gone down into the basement and done the deed.  The banker's wife, who was fearful that her husband was cheating on her ... the banker's ex-wife who never liked the fact he left her for his secretary ... the playwright who believes the banker stole his play and intended to sell it as his own ... the local landscaper whose was put out of business when the banker refused to give him a much-needed loan ... then there's the overly nervous waitress who takes the heat off of Aunt Rosemary when she confesses to the crime!  But Avery as well as the police do not think she did it.  Which begs the question - who really killed Bob Hanover?

The story is filled with suspects, clues, and secrets galore, and poor Avery has to make sense of them.  Clemmie tries to help, but she's in danger herself of being exposed, because Aunt Rosemary is almost certain she can feel a presence in the Portage Path Women's Club, and she is determined to ferret it out, even if that means calling in reinforcements to hold a seance.  The only problem is, when you start messing with the other side, you just never know what ... or in this case, who! ... you manage to reach.  This book definitely ups the ante when it comes to ghosts and the other side, as Avery does everything she can to keep Clemmie's presence a secret, as well as her own ability to see and speak with spirits.  All of this, plus solving a murder, definitely keeps our amateur sleuth busy.  

It's truly a shame that Ness is not continuing the series.  I would love to see more Haunted Mansion Mysteries.  Avery Morgan is a fun character, and her interactions with the self-absorbed playwright, Fabian LaGrande, are priceless!  (And let's face it, she picked the right surname for the character!)  Who knows, maybe if I'm lucky, Ness will shop the series around and find another publisher that will pick up on the series.  In the meantime, I would definitely recommend this and the previous book for anyone who enjoyed a good murder mystery with some ghosts thrown in the mix.

RATING:  9 pale aqua beads spotted with gold out of 10 for mystery, ghosts, and fun all rolled into one!

Under the Cover of Murder - the sixth Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery

Six books in, and author Lauren Elliott still has me hooked with her Beyond the Page Bookstore mystery series!  I have so been enjoying the antics of Addie Greyborne and her friends - Serena, Simon, Catherine, Paige (get it? Paige? Books?), Zach, Jerry, and yes, even Marc!  Elliott has created such a well-rounded cast of characters, and each time I pick up a book, it's like visiting with old friends again.  And each mystery is so well-crafted, somehow connected to a different book each time - Sherlock Holmes, The Secret Garden, Charles Dickens, Alice in Wonderland ... I'm still holding out hope that one of these days, Addie is going to solve a mystery involving a first edition, first printing of the first Nancy Drew book, The Secret of the Old Clock!  I mean, after all, the author's biography in the back of the book says that Elliott grew up "devouring" Nancy Drew!  But, while I wait, I'll continue to enjoy each of these fantastically plotted whodunnits...

Under the Cover of Murder deals with an Agatha Christie book - The Mysterious Affair, which happens to be the first Hercule Poirot novel.  It's the wedding of her best friend, Serena, and Addie is the maid of honor.  The wedding is to take place on the very opulent yacht owned by the groom's parents, and from the moment Addie first set foot on the yacht, she couldn't wait to get into that library of what is clearly some very valuable first printings!  Little does she realize that it will take not one, but two!, murders before she is able to get in there and examine the books.  First, a body turns up on the beach the morning of Serena's wedding; and then, another body washes ashore that same night, after Serena and Zach have left on their honeymoon.  The first body has no identification; the second body, though, is Lacey Davenport!  Marc's high school sweetheart and Serena's former best friend - before she stole from Serena and wreaked havoc in Greyborne Harbor (as told in Prologue to Murder).  The murders appear to unrelated - except for the fact that the mystery man was holding a torn piece from a page of a book in his hand when he was found, and traces of Lacey's blood are found in a book in the yacht's library - the very same book that has a piece torn from one of its pages!

Addie has quite a mystery on her hands this time and a very limited time within which to solve it.  Locked on the boat with all of the other wedding guests, she (with the help of Paige and Catherine) create a new clue board to list suspects, write up motives, and put down all of the clues they find.  And while many people had a reason to dislike Lacey - after all, she managed to tick off a lot of people at the wedding reception! - who hated her enough to killer her?  And how does she connect to the man found on the beach that morning?  Was the motive personal, or had Lacey uncovered something that someone would kill to keep secret?  And talk about secrets!  Elliott certainly fills this book with tons of them!  From spouses cheating on their better halves, to unscheduled and untraceable stops by the yacht, to false copies of first editions of some very valuable books - this mystery has it all.  But that simply means Addie and friends have so much more to sift through in order to find the true motive and real killer before he or she strikes again.

I truly enjoy the fact that Elliott provides opportunities for some of the supporting cast to shine in each book.  Sometimes it is Serena, sometimes it is Simon, and in this one, Paige and Catherine get their turn.  I also enjoy the ongoing subplot of Addie's love life - first it was with Marc, then he left her and ended up with the former FBI agent, Ryley; then she fell for Simon, and it seems to be going well - however, events in this book could change that dynamic, and honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about that.  I mean, when the series started, I was rooting for Marc and Addie to get together.  But after Ryley came along and the way Marc treated Addie, I kind of adjusted to her being with Simon.  What will happen next?  I guess only future books will tell...

Now, something in this book that immediately caught my attention while reading it.  In the scene, the captain of the yacht comes up to the group, and Addie realized from his good looks "why the normally meek Ida Biggs, a book club member, and the usually prickly Martha had both schemed to get closer to him during this past week's festivities" (p. 18).  The thing that immediately stood out was "Ida Biggs."  Quite an unusual name - unless you happen to have read The Dana Girls Mystery Stories (a children's mystery series in the vein of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, where sisters Jean and Louise Dana solve mysteries at a boarding school).  In that series, the Dana sisters have a nemesis by the name of Lettie Briggs, who has a cohort in crime named Ina Mason.  No, it's not exact, but it is rather close enough - Ida/Ina and Biggs/Briggs.  Left me to wonder if perhaps Elliott had grown up reading more than just Nancy Drew, and the names inspired this book club member's name.  A mystery for another day, I suppose.

Another reference in the book that caught my eye (and delighted my geek side!) was in the scene where Addie has joined Serena and the other bride's maids to get their hair done.  Serena finally relents that a braided coil may not have been the best, to which Ellie replies, "...that wasn't until Paige pointed out that you'd look like Princess Leia" (p. 30).  To which, Serena snickers and replies, "...then I decided taking on the Dragon Lady [referring to her future mother-in-law] this week has been bad enough, I really didn't want a go-around with Darth Vader, too" (p. 30).  Let's face it - any book that no only references the greatest sci-fi film of all time (uhm, Star Wars! Duh!), but also has that possible homage to the Dana Girls - well, no way around it, it's a huge hit in my book (pun fully intended!)!

The climactic confrontation of Addie with the killer in this book was definitely something to look forward to, as there were certain scenes earlier that set up that climax, and which I could not wait to see happen.  It was also fun to figure out with Addie just who was involved in the murders, in the cover-up, and in the book forgeries, as there were so many possibilities - it's nice to read a murder mystery where the killer turns out to be a true surprise!

This series is a definite must read for cozy-mystery fans, non-cozy-mystery fans, and, well, just about anyone who loves a really good murder mystery!

RATING:  10 slices of mile-high chocolate cake with gold flakes sprinkled across the icing out of 10 for one heck of a superbly written murder mystery!

A Page Marked for Murder - the fifth Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery

You don't know what the murder weapon was. You don't know who the murderer is. You don't know where the murder took place. So how in the world are you supposed to solve this crime? Well, Lauren Elliott shows readers exactly how it's done in her fifth Beyond the Page Bookstore mystery!  This series has been thoroughly enjoyable from the get-go, and as Elliott continues the series, it's nice to see the characters learn and grow and to the see the cast continue to expand. I still keep hoping that sooner or later Addie and Marc will wake up and see that they were made for each other (not that I have anything against Simon, but to me, Addie and Marc actually fit together better).  Oh, well, that's neither here nor there - for now, I will just follow along as Addie continues her amateur sleuthing adventures...

A Page Marked for Murder brings the mystery closer to home when Addie finds a body behind Martha's bakery next door to her bookstore.  And when the deceased turns out to be the father of Martha's granddaughter - a man with whom she has recently been seen having some very public arguments and about whom Martha told Addie she would take care of - well, let's just say that things do not look good for poor Martha.  Of course, Addie doesn't believe for a second that Martha is the killer, but since all of the circumstantial evidence points to her, Marc and his former-FBI partner, Ryley, focus all of their attention on her ... which leaves Addie free to explore all of the other possibilities.

There are plenty of people with motive.  Brett Palmer was not a popular man by any means. Yes, Martha certainly had reason to hate him - after all, he got her daughter pregnant and then left. But Martha's ex-husband also has issues with him, and he was even seen arguing with him the week before he turns up dead.  But he has an alibi.  Then there is Brett's latest girlfriend, with whom he has an argument the night his body is found.  But she has an alibi.  Then there is that mysterious new man in town, who happens to be dating Addie's cousin, Kalea - he is overheard arguing with Brett's girlfriend about money.  But he also has an alibi.  In fact, every suspect on Addie's whiteboard seems to have an air-tight alibi, except Martha.  Could she have done it?  Addie refuses to believe it and sets about to prove her innocence.

What makes this murder mystery so interesting is that Elliott not only obscures the identity of the killer, but she also makes it difficult to figure out what the murder weapon was and where the murder actually took place.  Without any idea of where it happened or how it happened, Addie, as well as the police, are completely stalled in their ability to track down the killer.  But Addie knows someone who holds the key to figuring it out, if she can only convince him to reveal what he knows!

And, oh, yeah, in the middle of all this, Addie discovers that Martha's granddaughter has possession of a first printing of The Secret Garden that could be worth as much as $25,000.00!  When the book disappears at the same time as Brett Palmer is found murdered, Addie has to wonder if there is a connection.  And if she can figure out who took the book and where it is now, will it lead her to the murderer?

This was definitely a cleverly plotted mystery, and while I began to suspect the real killer about half-way through the book, I had no way to really connect the dots until Addie herself stumbles across the murder weapon (and a rather ingenious one it is! kudos to Elliott for coming up with something this creative!).  So, it was fun to fight off my own frustration in trying to figure out whodunnit right along with Addie, knowing that Martha is innocent but no way to prove it.

And with all of this going on, Elliott does not shy away from addressing the personal lives of her characters, such as Kalea's irresponsibility and lies, as well as the police sergeant's birth right in the middle of Martha's bakery.  Things like this are what keep the stories grounded in reality and help build a very "real" world in which Addie lives, and thus, make it all the more enjoyable for the reader to feel like this is a full, fleshed-out-reality and not just a murder-by-the-numbers mystery with the same old characters in the same old situations book after book.  (And, since Elliott admits in her bio paragraph at the end of the book that she grew up reading Nancy Drew, I'm waiting for the day when Addie gets involved with a mystery where she has to find that elusive first printing of Nancy Drew #10, Password to Larkspur Lane, that most collectors believe to be a phantom printing!)

Can hardly wait to see what Elliott has in store for Addie and her friends in book six!

RATING:  10 small solar garden lighthouses out of 10 for making an unsolvable crime not quite so unsolvable, but definitely a fantastic read!

Haunted Homicide - a Haunted Mansion Mystery (#1)

Wait, what? Another new series?  But, Todd, I thought you weren't picking up any new series!  And a cozy series, at that?! Yes, yes, yes, I know.  But when you go to Barnes & Noble time and time again, and there are no new books in the series you do read, and you stumble across the start of a new series about a haunted mansion with a ghost that helps the new young business manager of the woman's club that houses its meetings and events within that haunted mansion - plus, with the unique font used for the title and the awesome cover art - well, let's face it, I couldn't help myself.  I picked up the first two books in the series and figured I would give them a try.  If I didn't like them, I knew I could always pass them on to someone else.

Well, I have no intention of passing them on!

Haunted Homicide, the first of Lucy Ness's "Haunted Mansion Mystery" tales, is a delightful little mystery with plenty of colorful characters.  Of course, when you are dealing with a bunch of high society, older-than-dirt women, you're pretty much guaranteed to have some fun characters!  The story centers around Avery Morgan, who has come to the small town of Portage Path (interesting name) to take over as business manger for the PPWC (Portage Path Women's Club).  Avery's parents died when she was young, and she was raised by her rather eccentric aunt who claims to see and speak with the dead.  Avery has never believed in any of that, and his move to Portage Path gives her a chance to get away from it all.  Or so she thinks...

Avery is welcomed into the PPWC by everyone except one - Muriel Sadler, an old, rich socialite who makes it clear that she does not want Avery there.  All of the others ladies on the Board for the women's club are happy to have Avery - Patricia Fink, Gracie Grimm, Valentina Hanover, and Agnes Yarborough.  The cook, Quentin, and the hostess, Geneva, are also thrilled to meet Avery.  But as soon as she arrives, she realizes things are not going well for the club.  Membership is down, attendance at meetings is low, and one of the rooms in the old mansion is having to be repaired because Agnes fell asleep in the records room and dropped her cigarette, starting a fire that nearly wiped out the room.  Enter: Jack Harkness.

Yes, you read that right.  Jack Harkness. No, not THAT Jack Harkness.  Although, it would have been rather hilarious if Jack Harkness turned out to be Captain Jack Harkness (as played by John Barrowman) in the Doctor Who series.  But, sadly, this is only a super-tall, super-good looking restorationist who will be fixing the Marigold Room.  However, I did smile every time I read his name, as I could only picture in my mind John Barrowman as Jack Harkness.

Anyway, before you know it, Muriel Sadler winds up dead at the bottom of the basement stairs.  Avery stumbles across the body - literally! - and she is left to wonder if the young woman in the 1920s flapper outfit she sees in the basement is connected to the murder.  Of course, Sergeant Oscar "Oz" Alterman and his policemen are unable to locate any woman in the basement.  Avery gets the suspicion they think she imagined the woman.  But she didn't.  She knows she didn't.  She spoke with the woman.  She was real.  Wasn't she?

With a series called "A Haunted Mansion Mystery," I think you pretty much know the answer to that.  Ness plays the story realistically (well, as realistically as you can with a ghost), and Clementine Bow (the ghost) is not able to simply tell Avery who the killer is.  Rather, Clemmie simply helps Avery talk through all the facts she uncovers about the suspects and the night of the murder, and she even manages to eavesdrop on some conversations that help Avery connect some dots about Muriel Sadler.  Of course, if she's going to figure out who killed the former president of the PPWC (at the request of the other board members, of course), she's going to have to get some answers to some important questions, like:  where did Patricia get those bruises? why was Muriel's husband at a movie the night of the murder when he told the police he was at home? what was Gracie doing with some of the records books at her house?  why did the previous business manager not turn in her key when Muriel fired her? and was it true that the former groundskeeper was stealing from the club, as Muriel accused him of when she fired him?  So much misinformation, so many lies, and so many secrets - all of which make for a great mystery!

Ness is off to a great start with this first book in her new series, and I hope the series sticks around for a while and doesn't disappear like Clemmie after only two books!

RATING:  9 purple t-shirts and purple-glittered hair out of 10 for kicking off this new series with a fun new mystery-solving duo!

Proof of Murder - the fourth Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery

The books in this series are coming out faster than I can keep up with reading them!  I just now finished the fourth book in the series, and the sixth book came out already at the bookstores.  Which, is not necessarily a bad thing, since that simply means I have more stories of Addie Greyborne to look forward to!  And that, without a doubt, is definitely a good thing!  I've grown to appreciate Addie and her sleuthing skills, as well as her will she/won't she relationships with the police chief (Marc) and the doctor (Simon).  This go-around though, the status quo definitely changes!

In Proof of Murder, Addie finds herself facing a locked-room mystery that would make Sherlock Holmes proud.  Of course, that would be too easy, so author Lauren Elliott throws in another twist - Addie becomes the prime suspect in the theft of some very rare and very expensive Sherlock Holmes first printings!  It seems Marc Chandler, the Chief of Police for Greyborne Harbor is back in town, and he has brought Special Agent Ryley Brookes from the FBI with him!  So, when Addie stumbles across the body of an appraiser at an allegedly haunted house whose contents are being auctioned off and simultaneously finds that several first edition Sherlock Holmes books that she had seen the previous day have been mysteriously replaced with more recent copies, it turns out her keen sense of observation and theories are the last things Chandler and Brookes want to hear.  Addie quickly learns that Agent Brookes believes Addie is the one who stole the books, and if the appraiser was murdered, then it was likely Addie who did that, too!

Now, I'll quickly admit that Marc's attitude toward Addie seems completely out of character and out of place in this story.  Yes, the two of them have had their ups and down in trying to figure out whether they have a relationship or not, but this sudden about face, and his not only cold shoulder but outright cruelty towards Addie does not read like the Marc of the previous three books.  Now, this could be because of his new relationship with Agent Brookes (who has some secrets of her own, and who, throughout the entire book, seems to have it in for Addie, determined to prove her guilty of the crime no matter what the evidence says), or it could just be that his time away from her and his return to find her in a budding romance with Simon Emerson, the town's coroner.  In either event, I found it very difficult to read the scenes featuring Marc and Addie, and I was the same as Addie in not at all understanding this sudden harsh treatment of her.

Aside from that, the mystery was exceptional!  The death of Charlotte McAdams in a library that was locked from the inside, the door bolted and the window jammed shut, makes for a wonderful mystery.  Spilled tea and a missing feather pen leave one to wonder if she was poisoned.  The missing books lead one to wonder if she was killed solely for the purpose of stealing those books.  And the room locked from the inside leave one wondering how in the heck did the murder and theft take place?  Of course, these are all questions that Addie has to answer in order to clear herself of the crime that she is being accused of committing.  Despite repeated warnings from Marc to stay out of it, she brings out her trusty board in the backroom of her bookstore and starts keeping a list of suspects and clues.  

Now, I'm not going to say that the secret passage in the library was not really a surprise - I mean, read enough mysteries, and you pretty much know that in a locked room murder, there is more than likely a hidden passage.  However, in this instance, the hidden room, and the passage that went out from the hidden room was rather unique, and I have to wonder if Elliott researched and discovered a house that contained a real floor plan like this to be able to describe it in such detail.  If she did, then I'd sure love to know where that house is!  With passages and hidden rooms like this, it is definitely a house I'd love!

What was a surprise, however, is the identity of the killer and thief!  I definitely did not see that one coming.  With the plethora of suspects, including Addie's very own cousin who unexpectedly showed up in town, helped her catalogue some of the books, then disappeared, it was hard to narrow it down to just one person.  In fact, at one point, I thought I was certain I had it all figured out - and then, wham! Elliott throws the reader a curve ball that, once revealed, definitely makes sense and fits with all of the clues in the story.  So, bravo to Elliott for keeping me guessing up until the very end (not too many mysteries do that any more!).

Thus, aside from the very off characterization of Marc, this book is another winner for Elliott, and I look forward to seeing what she has in store for Addie and her ever-growing supporting cast in the next book.

RATING:  8 wisps of white, ghostly smoke out of 10 for giving readers a mystery that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would be impressed by!